The Mind's Eternal Gift
by Chad Rains
Summary: As time passes further, Jeremie seems to get less and less sleep much to his dismay. But the culprit is far from what anyone would guess. Or at least not of this world. Slight OOC/AU due to some very mild creative liberty to canon details. Pre-Season 2.


**AN: **This oneshot is a sort of emotional muse supposed to be placed from Jeremie's point of view even if a little OOC...Possibly AU if you will. This is meant to be pre-season 2 or just any point in general where Aelita has not been to earth. I have also flubbed it and extended her lyoko 'stay period' a bit longer to accentuate tensions. I take no claim to his character nor others in the Code:Lyoko universe. Jeremie, Code:Lyoko, the remaining characters, and everything else belong to Moonscoop.

"3AM...Four hours and still no sleep." the blonde thought to himself as he lay there motionless in his single bed the faculty provided. The room was pitch black and silent except for the dim display of his alarm clock at the end of the bed and the hum of the computer that sat under the far window. Though it was all moot.; The artificial light and the quiet ambiance of the whirring fans in the machine always acted like a soothing lullaby for him.

He sat up carefully in his loose fitting navy blue PJ's, not really bothering to reach for his glasses; Just sitting there at the edge of the bed, staring about the room with his blurred, correction-less vision. "I know why I can't sleep, but why can't I get my mind off it? I'm smart enough for that, right?" he continued to think silently to himself in the seemingly comforting darkness.

_"It's been nearly 4 years since we met. No matter how hard I have tried, nothing I have done has brought her closer to earth. It even saddens me to think that many attempts have threatened her life. I fear to try further. Though I need to try."_

The young male had found himself just planted in the familiar office chair that had always sat in the same spot in front of his computer. His fingers were hovered over the keyboard and his vision had miraculously cleared. With a glancing brush of one hand against his face, he found the specs on his face somehow. Returning to the computer which had become the only significant source of light in the otherwise pitch black room, he began clicking at the mouse idly. Rather than his usual decision to spend his sleepless evenings working to find a way to help Aelita, he simply brought up a web browser. As it flipped up onto the screen, a handful of web pages effortlessly loaded in front of him.

_"My friends always seem to think that my sleepless nights are caused by one thing and that's working constantly on lyoko...But that simply does not seem the case anymore. My mind just races non-stop about this time of night and keeps me wide awake...It's in these times I lie awake at night feeling my still infant life is incomplete. I have my friends and I have my family. They are all great and I wouldn't trade them away for anything. But my life still feels incomplete somehow."_

A youtube-like site was currently centered on screen. On all corners he was getting bombarded with ads for jewelry and flower companies to name a few. His mind immediately sprung his focus to the nearest visible date, realizing that he had nearly forgotten it was less than a week till Saint Valentines Day. Rather, he had wanted to forget it. Nay, it always seemed difficult to forget something as heavily advertised as that holiday, contrary to his attempts. Becoming a little more tired, he refused to navigate further into the site and closed it off his screen in a quick click of the mouse.

Swiveling effortlessly in the chair, the boy stared back at his bunk. With the ill-illumination the lit monitor provided, he took a passing glance at the sheets from afar. In his mind, the frame could easily fit two persons of his size with room to spare. It was one of many thoughts that constantly flowed through his mind.

_"It's nights like these that I feel she's so close...The daydreams feel more real with each passing day, ironically making it harder not to think about. Heck, some days I can even imagine her soft, sweet kiss with shocking detail. It simply becomes harder to forget as time passes."_

"Belpois! Turn that light out!" an all too familiar voice boomed from just beyond the door.

It's amazing how an authoritative voice can throw you back to reality with such force. "Yes, Jim." Jeremie responded obediently in a fake sounding tone of willingness. He reaches his arm around and hit the switch on the monitor, plunging the room back into darkness. With that, he could hear the footsteps disappearing down the hall till they were no longer heard.

_"Come on, Belpois. Last thing you need is to have your emotions take over. Just focus on the job at hand and you'll be fine. No need to get emotional."_

The covers on the bed already seemed to be draped over his clothed legs, his vision focused towards the end of the room again as he sat upright on the bed. He shook his head in wild disbelief at what his conscience insisted, a small gut feeling suggesting otherwise. Just as he was reaching to remove his glasses, he glanced off at the distant alarm clock one more time.

"3:43...And still no sleep." the boy muttered to himself, slowly pulling himself under the covers into a more comfortable position. It wasn't long till he finally fell asleep, glasses and all.


End file.
